


The Words on Your Skin

by IGuessIWriteStuffNow



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Soulmate AU, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, au where jack doesn't kiss a girl when the strike is won, background newsbians, but jack's high key an artist so, has the first meeting from the movie, i know soulmates is overdone but trust me I think I've got this, i mean its more about jack and dave falling in love, in a world where soulmates are a thing, it could be movie or musical your pick, sprace is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IGuessIWriteStuffNow/pseuds/IGuessIWriteStuffNow
Summary: David Jacobs’ soulmate was an artist. Jack's was a genius. These things they knew. The rest was a bit harder to figure out.Soulmate AU where any marks- writing, bruises, etc- on your soulmate's skin appear on your own.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sellout writing soulmate AUs. Never thought this day would come.  
> Okay but I actually think this one works for them.
> 
> Some further notes on the AU-  
> names and locations written on skin can't be seen by the soulmate, for secrecy reasons.  
> same sex soulmate pairs do happen, as frequently as gay/bi/pan etc people would in our world. Due to the time period, though, their relationships are illegal. And so is marriage between two people who aren't soulmates.
> 
> Okay enjoy

David Jacobs’ soulmate was an artist. When he was growing up, it seemed like every time he blinked, new spirals of ink would appear on his skin, forming delicately intricate patterns over his arms, legs, stomach, and even behind his ear, once (Davey wasn’t exactly sure how anyone could manage to draw there). He would sometimes find words as well; noting to whom his soulmate owed money, or what time to be somewhere, or a name- the names were always blurred out for Davey, as that type of information wasn't allowed to be shared- but those notes told him so little compared to the sketches, which seemed to open up his soulmate’s soul. Davey was blessed with the beautiful drawings covering his light skin, each one bringing him closer to his happily ever after.

******

Jack Kelly’s soulmate was a smart kid- whoever it was. In the space between the drawings Jack scribbled over his skin, he often found names of teachers and school room numbers. Every so often, in what Jack assumed was preparation for a test, he would wake to find a sudden increase of words on his skin. The myriad of facts and equations were incomprehensible to Jack, but apparently crystal clear to the kid with whom he was supposed to fall in love. And, despite the confusing organization of the hastily written words, Jack still pored over every paragraph of information, secretly enjoying learning the second-hand lessons, a different type of knowledge than he’d ever gotten the chance to learn growing up on the streets. He didn't know who this person was, or even if he’d ever get his life together to a point where he could make a future with his soulmate, and yet, he couldn’t be more grateful for the words he was given.

******

Davey wasn’t thinking about soulmates on his first day selling papers. Of course, his mind was still racing with other thoughts, as it always was, but they were mostly focused on making sure his younger brother was accounted for and keeping out of the way of the crowd of boys around him. Unfortunately, Davey was never lucky enough to ensure such a simple plan to work. He hadn't even gotten close to the congregation of the newsies, when one of them- barely a year older than Davey, if that- slammed directly into him. They exchanged just a few words each- the other boy only spared him one, actually- before the stranger took off, running away from two frighteningly angry young men. There was something about the boy’s eyes, the way he held them in contact with Davey’s for just a bit too long. That something that made Davey wish, for just a fleeting moment, that his soulmate didn't legally have to be a girl.

******

By the time he was seventeen, Jack had gotten into the habit of shoving the idea of soulmates to the corner of his mind. He had a band of newsies to run, after all, and love wasn’t a priority. As far as he was concerned, his soulmate was likely out in Santa Fe, living her- Jack assumed it would be a 'her', seeing the way laws worked, but, then again, laws had never been his greatest concern- life, and getting a good education. One day, he’d go out there and find her, and they'd live happily ever after. But until then, he didn’t really need to trouble himself all that much with the idea. So he spent his days selling papes, and picking fights with the Delancys, and watching his friends find dream about falling in love while he dreamed about planting crops and splitting rails. Another day had started, bringing another opportunity to pick one of those all-too-common fights. He grabbed Morris’s hat and run, almost achieving the clean getaway he’d planned, before crashing into some kid who had gotten in his way. He had barely a second to look at the surprised- no, actually, annoyed- kid, before he decided that he had just slammed into what had to be the most beautiful boy to ever walk the earth. But there wasn’t time to think about pretty blue-eyed boys, not then. There was just time to run.

******

Jack Kelly. That was the name boy who had slammed into Davey and managed to make him feel dizzy and annoyed and dazzled with just five seconds of eye contact. The same boy who had, just a bit later, managed to somehow sweep himself into Davey’s life, buy him fifty papes, and force himself into the role of his selling partner in the span of five minutes.

Davey’s head was still reeling.

Jack was a skilled liar, a self-proclaimed “improver of truths”, and exactly the kind of boy he would have been told to stay away from back when he was in school. And maybe that sense of danger- of defiance, almost- maybe that was the reason Davey was so fascinated by him. Jack was annoying, but intriguing, and Davey immediately wanted to learn all he could about him. He couldn’t help but look at the place where his sleeve gave way to skin, examining his wrist to try to find any markings, little notes or scribbles that would be visible on the small patch of flesh that he could see. Not like he was sure exactly what seeing any would do- it’s not like he could use it to tell much about Jack, not that he even really wanted to know, but...

******

“Have you found your soulmate yet?” The boy- Davey Jacobs- asked. He was occupying the space next to Jack on a bench (Jack had tried to sit close to him- his lack of understanding in regards to personal space ever present- but Dave had moved away) while his kid brother was off guilting adults into buying papes. Les seemed like a good kid; Jack liked him. Almost a bit too wild to have the uptight, know-it-all Davey as a brother, but maybe Jack just needed to get Dave out of his shell.

Jack didn’t think much of the question Dave had asked- coming from a girl, he would have thought of it as flirting. Lots of girls did that, started out with that question to try to determine if he was potentially her soulmate. But from Dave? Just a conversation starter. Soulmates seemed to be all anyone ever talked about and Jack was almost surprised it had taken them the few hours they’d been selling for it to be brought up. “Nah. I ain’t too interested in that. I gotta life right now. I can look for some girl later.” Davey nodded, and Jack wondered if the kid was some sorta romantic who actually bought into all of that crap. “What about yours?”

Davey shrugged. “I don’t know who she is. I don’t know that many girls, anyway.” Jack nodded and took another drag of his cigarette. He’d been holding in his mouth since they had sat down. He’d offered one to Dave as well, ‘cause it’s the nice thing to do, and because he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be taken. Dave refused it, like Jack expected, turning his nose up at the thing like the proper boy he was. Jack really didn’t know why he got involved with this kid.

Or why Jack was already so fond of him.

******

_hey_

The word appearance on Davey’s forearm was almost ignored as he laid in bed. The bedroom was cast in a low light, and he wasn’t much in the habit of looking at his skin for words directed at him. His soulmate almost never tried writing to him. She was probably too busy making art and spending time with all those names Davey saw blurred over his skin. When they were younger, they would get in small conversations, mostly about colors and animals and food- kid stuff- but as time passed, as Davey became occupied with school, and his soulmate became occupied with whatever she did, the conversations became few and far between. But now she wanted to talk.

_Hello._

_how’re ya_

_I’m fine. And you?_

_okay_

Nothing followed for a minute or so and Davey was confued and tired and more curious about his soulmate than he'd care to admit. So he wrote:

_No offense, but why are you writing to me now?_

_no reason. bored. nothing much to do where i is_

_Oh, okay._ Davey wasn’t sure what to say. He knew people at his school who tried to get every clue as to who their soulmate was, despite bans on names and locations. It seemed tedious to Davey. He would rather just find love where he did, and use the soulmate connection to check to see if it was right. _I like your drawings._

_heh. those. i forget ya can see them. they’s just scribles, ya know?_

_Pretty scribbles. Are you an artist?_

_nah_

Davey considered asking what she did, then, but if she hadn’t told him outright, she probably didn’t want to at all. And it was late; Davey had to wake early to meet Jack as his lodging house in the morning. He knew he shouldn’t need an escort to a place the newsies could get themselves to daily, so he blamed his nervousness on Les. Jack shouldn’t know that after nearly two weeks of selling together Davey still felt anxious roaming the streets without him. 

Jack... That was a topic that did nothing but lead Davey down a confusing line of thought that came with emotions he didn’t want to deal with then. Or ever, really. Mostly he just wanted to get some rest.

_I should be getting to sleep. Goodnight._

_night._ She didn’t write anything else for a moment, and Davey let his eyelids sink shut. He considered washing off the marks, so that Sarah couldn’t tease him about the conversation (as if she and her soulmate didn’t write to each other extensively). But he was so tired, and he would have time the next morning. As he reached out to extinguish the light by his bed, he noticed one small new mark on his arm. _ <3 _

Davey smiled, and went once again to plunge the room into darkness, but only after leaving a small mark of his own.

_ <3 _

******

Jack had gotten to know two girls since the beginning of the strike. Two smart, fierce, beautiful girls, by the names of Sarah Jacobs and Katherine Plumber. And, yeah, maybe he hadn’t run into them and immediately been struck by how pretty they were. Maybe, as he spent more time with Dave, and saw his intense determination and unquestionable intelligence, he got even more interested in him. But that didn’t mean anything; his soulmate wouldn’t be a _boy_ and definitely wouldn’t be Davey. Davey, who had so much to do with his life, while Jack had nothing but half a plan to run away to the other side of the country. And both Sarah and Kath were smart girls- smart enough to write all those notes on his arm, definitely. No reason one of them couldn’t be his soulmate.

He still wasn’t infatuated by the whole “soulmate” idea, but since he met Dave, it had crawled closer to the front of his mind, making his eyes drift to the wrists of the girls he passed, trying to see if one of them had marks matching his. Because one of them had to, and the sooner he had proof that he had no chance with Davey, the better it would be for everyone.

The roof of the Jacobs’s apartment building seemed like a good enough place to find that proof. He approached the clotheslines as he waited, punching the socks that hung there as if the action would help him stop thinking about Davey’s pretty blue eyes. It didn’t.

“Jack, I don’t think you can win a boxing match against socks.” The light, ringing laugh of Sarah Jacobs drifted through the stale city air, making her presence known to Jack. Sarah was pretty in a way similar to her brother, with pale skin and light brown hair and a face that looked like it was made for the kind of amused grin she was sporting at that moment. 

Jack carded his fingers through his hair, leaving his hand to rest atop his head. “They was looking at me the wrong way. I don’t take that from nobody, even socks.” She laughed again and sat down on the edge of the roof.

“Davey is downstairs, if you’re looking for him.” She started folding what appeared to be the shirt Dave was wearing on his first day with the newsies. Jack wondered if it was wrong that he recognized it so quickly.

“Nah. Actually, I’se here to see you.” She nodded as he sat down next to her. “I been wondering, Sarah. Have you found your soulmate yet?”

Sarah shook her head, more of a dismissal of his behavior than a 'no'. “Jack Kelly, who taught you to be so forward? You should have better manners than that, to speak to a girl in such a way.” The amusement in her voice served to override any scolding tone. “And, in answer to your question: no, I haven't. However, if you are asking for yourself, I’m sorry to say that I don’t think it’s you.”

Jack expected- almost wanted- to feel a pit of disappointment in his stomach. But there was nothing. He supposed that, at the end of the day, it didn’t matter much to him. Would it’ve been nice to marry Sarah, to be in Dave’s family at least in some way? Yeah. But this was okay. He liked Sarah, a lot, and if friends was what they were going to be, he’d be happy. “It’s okay, Sarah.” Then after a second, “How’re ya sure it ain’t me?”

Sarah smiled and rolled up one of her shirt sleeves, revealing writings and drawings on her forearm. Sarah’s handwriting was oddly familiar. It greatly resembled Jack’s soulmate’s- he realized with a start. Not exactly the same; the shape of her “s”s were different and the “i”s were dotted with open circles, but still similar. But the other set of handwriting _definitely_ wasn’t Jack’s. It was pretty: cursive and swirly, looking almost as if it had been done in a calligraphy pen. It’s delicate lines matched ones on Sarah’s wrist, forming a small illustration of violets. Nothing like his own art- not as practiced- but intricate and pretty all the same. “The way my soulmate writes, it’s not a lot like the way you speak. I considered it being you, for a while, but the more conversations I had with my soulmate…”

Jack nodded, keeping eye contact. He didn’t want Sarah to think he was invading her privacy by reading the conversation, as curious as he was. “I get it. The violets are pretty.” She smiled, and nodded in agreement. “I draw on myself, too. I can’t give my soulmate any fancy words, like she gives me, but I thought-” He rolled up his shirtsleeves to show a quickly-done drawing of eyes (they were Davey’s eyes, but hopefully she wouldn’t realize) printed near his inner elbow. “Maybe I can share some art with the girl.” Sarah’s eyes widened a bit, and she opened her mouth, then shut it. “Sarah?”

“Oh, oh, nothing.” She lied, hardly better at it than her brother. Their family really needed to teach some better values. Like that of lying. “I’m going to go bring these clothes to Davey.”

“Okay, then.” Jack commented as she rushed off. He shrugged, an action seen by no one but the socks, walked away to find Kath.

He didn’t even have to ask the other girl if she had a soulmate. All it took was one glance at her wrist to notice the neatly drawn violets printed there.

Jack smiled, happiness for his friends filling the space where disappointment should reside, and offered to introduce Katherine to Davey’s sister.  


******

Davey couldn’t think of a time in his life he was more scared than when Jack nearly left for Santa Fe. His heart had clenched in his chest and tears had sprung to his eyes, but he forced them down, because he _couldn’t_ cry, not then. Not in front of Les, who already was, or the other young newsies, who looked so confused as to why their beloved leader was leaving them. Sarah and Katherine were gripping each other's hands so tight their knuckles turned white and looking at Davey with pity as if they understood how he felt. They didn’t. They had found each other, while Davey was left pining over a boy who had a soulmate, whoever she was. A boy who was running away to Santa Fe, who was leaving him alone.

But then he came back.

He called Davey- and the others, too, but _Davey_ \- his family, and hugged him so tightly that he couldn’t breathe, from both the way Jack was crushing of his lungs and the emotion building itself up in his throat. The newsies cheered for him, and Jack pulled back, still keeping one hand resting around Davey’s shoulder. They walked, arm in arm, to buy the papes at the price they had worked so hard to ensure, giddy with victory.

As they made their way through the city, everyone they passed bought their papes, leaving them sold out after only a few hours. The support for the newsies was much greater now that they were all anyone was talking about. Les had wanted to sell with them, practically begging, but Davey argued that he had had a long day already, and deserved the rest. Davey didn’t add that he really wanted the time alone with Jack, but he could tell Sarah understood as she dragged Les away with a small smile gracing her lips. 

Davey laid his head on Jack’s shoulder where they sat on an abandoned street curb, hands so close that their fingers were lightly touching. Davey had never had much experience with physical intimacy outside his family prior to becoming a newsie. But amongst the boys, it felt so natural. And with Jack? There wasn’t a better feeling.

Hours of selling had left them exhausted of discussions about the strike and every other topic the day’s paper, leaving them in a comfortable silence. “So.” Jack’s voice broke through the quiet.

“So?”

“Kath and your sister?” Jack asked, and Davey removed his head from the other’s shoulder. His stomach clenching with the familiar anxiety that appeared whenever someone mentioned the two together. Davey was more than happy for them, but images of the authorities finding out, and his close friend and sister getting hurt were horrifying to think. The less people who knew about Sarah’s relationship, the better, as far as he was concerned. He knew- hoped- Jack wouldn't think anything bad of it, but the worry remained.

“What about them?”

Jack made several hand motions that made no sense to Davey. When Jack saw that he failed to understand, he tried again. “Ya know. Sarah and Kath. Together. Like, together-together.”

Davey clenched his fist, wincing as his nails dug into his palms. “I didn’t know you knew about that.”

“Davey, I was the one who saw their matchin’ marks in the first place. They wouldn’t be together if it weren't for me.” 

Davey narrowed his eyebrows, not sure exactly what to make of what Jack was saying. “But they’re- they’re-” He lowered his voice. “Both girls, Jack.”

“I couldn’t tell, Dave.” The deadpan voice just earned Jack a glare. “It don’t much matter, round here. You telling me you never noticed Spot and Race’s matching hickies?” Davey certainly _hadn’t_ , but it seemed almost obvious in retrospect. “The law says what it does, but it ain’t gonna stop people from falling in love.”

Davey nodded, looking down at his hands. He knew the truth of that more than anyone. Marriage wasn't allowed between two people who weren't soulmates- people tried to fake it, of course and some even got away with it, if they were lucky- and it was equally outlawed between soulmates of the same sex. And Jack wasn't Davey’s soulmate- couldn't be- and Jack was a boy, and Jack wasn't even interested in him like that anyway. But what he was, was right. None of that managed to stop Davey from falling.

“What’s your soulmate like, Jack?” Davey asked. He could keep telling himself that he didn’t have a chance, but he still wanted to hope. He knew it was stupid, and he knew it would just end with him hurting, but he was a Jacobs, so he was inherently curious, and he was Davey, so he was inherently curious about _Jack_.

“Smart girl.” Jack answered and it wasn’t a surprise. Of _course_ Jack’s soulmate would be smart. She couldn't just be some average girl. No, she was probably smart and beautiful and so much better than Davey could ever be. Jack deserved perfect, though. He deserved better than Davey. “Always writing all these school notes on her arms, real proper grammar an’ all that. Dunno much else. Can't wait ti meet her.”

“She sounds great, Jack.” Davey said, because she did. She would probably be great for Jack. Jack would be so happy with her.

Jack nudged him with his shoulder. “Whattabout yours, Dave?”

Dave had barely thought about his soulmate lately, aside from the fact that it wasn't Jack (couldn't be Jack, Davey kept telling himself). “She’s an artist. Well, no, she said she’s not, but she can draw. Very well. I’m always finding these little designs over my skin.” Except, not always, anymore. The drawings had slowed down considerably in the past few weeks. He had considered asking her why, but the prospect of reaching out to her always seemed daunting. He supposed he might have to, soon, if only to tell her that he had feelings for someone who wasn’t her. That would be a mess. “Her grammar… isn’t perfect. But I can figure it out, so I don’t mind much. Um.. she fights a lot, for a girl. Always has bruised knuckles and black eyes; my mama used to get worried that I was I getting into fights, and I kept having to explain to her it was just my soulmate, not me.” Jack nodded and tapped his fingers on Davey’s knee. He was always moving his hands- never still for a moment. He experienced life in a way that was so reckless and fast-paced; Davey could never fit in with that. Hopefully, Jack’s soulmate would be someone far better suited for his way of living.

“Seems like a great girl, Dave. I hope ya find her soon.” Jack’s tone was quiet, almost sad. His exhale was closer to a sigh, and Davey didn’t know what he did to bring the change in Jack’s mood. But then he was turning his head and smiling, and his fingertips lightly pressed into his back, and Davey leaned into the touch. “We should be headin’ back. Don’t want the boys worrying I decided to go to Santa Fe anyways.”

Jack stood and offered his hands out to pull Davey up. He accepted, keeping his hands in Jack’s for a couple moments once they were standing. “Jack?”

“Yeah, Dave?”

He bit his lip before speaking. “Are you going to move to Santa Fe? Ever?”

Jack grinned at him. “I’m gonna go and visit one day, of course. But move there? I dunno. Santa Fe is a dream of mine, Dave. I got something better than dreams here.” 

Davey smiled, leaned into the arm Jack had wrapped around him, and blushed the whole way home.

****** 

_Hello._

Jack wasn’t exactly sure when the word had appeared on his wrist, as he had spent the past thirty minutes or so with his attention focused on his sketches instead of his skin. He had all but abandoned drawing on himself; all he ever seemed to draw anymore was Dave, and he knew that if he kept that up, surely his soulmate would notice. He kept his drawing strictly to his sketchbook, which would never be seen by anyone. Especially not Dave. And his soulmate hadn’t seemed to notice the lack of drawings, anyway. So why was she trying to talk to him now?

_hey_

_I have something I need to tell you._

Jack waited for her to continue. She didn’t. _and that is?_

_I like someone._

_oh_

_Yeah._ Neither wrote anything for a moment. _I’m sorry._

_its ok._ And since both were confessing things: _i like some one to_

_Oh. That’s good, then._

_how can ya be sure we ain’t just liking each other and dont know it?_ It was meant as a joke, Jack tried to tell himself. But no matter what he did, he could never fully convince himself that there was no way the person he was writing to was Dave. Because it was probably some good, smart girl, maybe not from Santa Fe but from somewhere. But there was always that _maybe_ that seemed even more painful than the truth, because he hadn’t found his soulmate yet and neither had Dave, and couldn't that mean something?

There were days he had half a mind to just write something big on his forehead, something that couldn’t be covered by sleeves or hats, just so that he could find out, once and for all, if his soulmate was Dave. But it would look stupid, he knew, and his poor soulmate would have to deal with whatever he wrote as well, so for everyone’s sake, it was best not to do it. Those were, of course, all the logical reasons. Davey would like those. But Jack was more about emotion, and he knew that the real reason he didn’t write something like “Dave, are you my soulmate?” on his forehead was because he knew the crushing despair that would fall over him when, as would likely happen, he didn’t see Davey with the same mark.

_I’m sure. Well, I mean, not really, if we completely honest. But the-_ A few letters, Jack wasn’t sure what they were, were written and then hastily wiped away, _person I like wouldn’t be you. You seem like a very nice girl_ \- What?- _but I think I’m in love with this person and I wouldn’t want to lead you on._

Jack’s eyes halted on the word girl, only barely scanning over the following line. _hey, uh. i ain’t no girl._

There was nothing for a moment, then- _What?_

_i’s a guy. ain’t you a girl?_ Jack’s soulmate didn’t write anything back, and a pang of nervousness shot through Jack’s chest. Did he scare her- him?- off? _its ok if youse a guy. we both like other poeple anyway so it dont much matter, right? i ain’t gunna tell nobody if you ain’t_

_I’m sorry. I have to go._ The soulmate wrote, lines shaky and more rushed than before and Jack figured that was the end of that. He didn’t try with any cutesy hearts this time- he wasn’t even sure why he’d done it the last time, but it had felt right and it had been returned. Apparently not anymore.

Jack’s soulmate was a guy, then. Or likely was, if he assumed Jack was a girl and got freaked out upon finding out he wasn’t. He supposed it could be a girl who liked girls, but no one was brave enough to go out on a limb and assume their soulmate was the same gender as them, when such an assumption could land them in jail. So, a guy, then.

A guy who wrote with perfect grammar, who went to school at least up to a few months prior, when all the notes about school stuff ceased to be written. Who expected his soulmate to be a girl and was scared when he found out he wasn’t. Who had handwriting similar to, but not the same as Sarah’s, handwriting that Sarah had obviously recognized when she saw it. 

And, on a likely unrelated note, Dave’s soulmate was someone who liked to draw on their skin, but wasn’t an artist, didn’t have the best grammar, and got in a lot of fights.

Jack knew he shouldn’t hope. That it would only lead to despair and heartbreak, for a million reasons, one of which being that his soulmate liked someone else. _Loved_ someone else. And if his soulmate _was_ Davey- which seemed almost too impossible to consider- the joy of finding out that Dave was his soulmate would just be immediately crushed by the realization that he was in love with another person. Unbearable.

But Jack had been waiting around for so damn long, pining over Davey, and he had to do something. He made a list of outcomes, which sounded like a pretty Davey-like thing to do. If he wasn't the one involved, he would have asked for Davey’s advice months ago. And Davey would make a list of the four possibilities, so that's what Jack did. They were: Davey didn’t like him and wasn’t his soulmate (likely but sad), Dave didn’t like him and was his soulmate (maybe even more sad?), Davey liked him and wasn’t his soulmate (that would work), or Davey liked him and was his soulmate (too good to think about).

The last of those was too perfect, so he decided to strive for the third option instead. He could be more than happy not being Dave’s soulmate, if he, for some reason, loved him anyway.

So Jack wouldn’t say anything about soulmates. He would just go up to Dave, and tell him how he felt. ‘Cause that would be easy.

...

He was so screwed.  


******

Davey was not freaking out.

Not at all.

So, his soulmate was a boy. That was okay. Davey _liked_ a boy, anyway, so why should it matter that his soulmate was also one? It was just that Davey always thought he could fall back on his soulmate. After he got his heart broken by Jack- he knew he would get his heart broken by Jack- he could find his soulmate and they could get married and Davey would learn to love her.

But his soulmate was a boy, too. Davey was completely doomed, stuck in love with his selling partner of nearly five months now, with a male soulmate who also liked someone else. He was fated to be alone, living in a broom closet in Sarah’s house and trying not to interrupt her and Kath when they were kissing.

Maybe he was being dramatic.

His soulmate had told him that he was a guy _hours_ ago, and Davey had immediately been tempted to scrub the conversation off of his arm so that it couldn’t be seen. But he didn’t, for some reason, and so it remained on his skin, a constant, mocking reminder of his ill-fated love life. Sarah and Les were already half-asleep by the time the conversation took place, so after an unpleasant bout of thinking about scrubbing his arm raw, he had slipped out the window and begun pacing on the fire escape. He couldn’t even be sure what unholy hour of the night it was at that point.

Apparently, not a late enough hour to keep a certain cowboy from deciding to visit.

“Davey, what're you doing out here so late?”

Davey had spent enough time with Jack to not immediately become flustered whenever he was in the other’s vicinity, but he was tired and the interruption was sudden. “What are _you_ doing here? At least I have the excuse of living here.”

“I wanted ta’ see you.” Jack responded, leaning against the wall of Davey’s building, looking even more radiant in the moonlight than he did usually. Davey was glad that the darkness of the night covered his blush.

“I usually would have been sleeping by now.”

“I know that.” He kicked a loose piece of brick and it rolled over the edge of the fire escape, plunging into the darkness of the street below. “That’s why I came now, actually.”

“So you want to talk to me, but you didn’t want me to be awake for it?” Davey cocked his head to the side, confused, but not surprised. Jack’s motives were always a mystery to him.

“Nah, not really, Dave. I just wanted to tell ya something, but I'm a bit worried you won’t like me much after.” Davey, not liking Jack? Impossible. Maybe for the first hour or so after they met, but then that was replaced with begrudging respect, then intrigue, then fondness, then… Then love.

“Jack, I really don’t think you could say anything that would stop me from liking you.”

Jack grinned in a way that was more forced than happy. “You're a smart guy, Dave. Smartest I know. But you can’t be sure ‘bout this one.”

“Try me.”

“You asked for it.” Jack cleared his throat and looked anywhere but at Davey. “Dave, I’se- I- I think… I think I’m in love wit’ ya.” The last word was followed by a worried laugh, not that Davey registered it. The words were stuck in a cycle of repetition in his head, played so many times they stopped making sense and just became noise. Davey grew up reading and interpreting words of authors and journalists and poets, and he could analyze any of those, but he couldn’t make sense of any of the sentence Jack had spoken.

Davey’s eyes were fixed on his open palms, just barely able to see Jack’s face in the background. Just barely able to see the way it shifted from anxiousness with a small bit of hope to despair and regret. “Dave, Davey I know- I know about the laws and rules and that, but I don’t- I dunno if we’re soulmates; it’s pretty likely we ain’t, but you- I couldn’t help loving you anyway. You probably don’t feel the same, Dave, and that’s okay, that’s okay! I just- I’d like to be your friend, still. It’s okay if you don’t wanna be, though, I just... Davey please say somethin’!”

“You love me?” Davey whispered, hardly able to make his voice work. All of Jack’s senseless rambling was lost on him- he thought he heard the word “love” again, but that could have just been his imagination. Probably all of this was his imagination; he probably fell asleep on the fire escape in the middle of pacing and was dreaming this whole thing. Usually, there was less talking in his dreams with Jack, but this was far too good to be anything in Davey’s real life.

“Yeah, Dave. I do.”

Davey nodded and stepped closer to Jack. “Good. That’s… That’s good.”

“It’s a good thing?” The smile that lit up Jack’s features was still incredulous, unsure of what to make of Davey’s words. But still exponentially happier than the expression he presented in the previous moments.

“Great thing.” Davey was so close to Jack now that barely an inch separated them.

“The Walking Mouth is short on words.” Jack observed, the cocky grin in full force. “It’s like that thing you talk about- what’sit called- when somethin’ is unexpected, like you’d think the opposite, but in a funny way?”

“Irony, Jack.”

“Yeah. It’s irony-ic.”

Davey rolled his eyes and rested one hand on Jack’s waist, and the other on the wall behind him. “Jack, should I- can I-”

“If that sentence is gonna end with ‘kiss you’, then yeah. Please do.” Jack had hardly finished speaking when Davey moved forward to capture Jack’s lips in a kiss. It was messy and awkward and they were both tired and Jack was pinned against a wall- actually, Davey rather liked that part- but it didn’t matter because they’ve wanted for so damn long. And screw laws, and soulmates, and anyone else, because if becoming a rebel was what it took to kiss Jack Kelly, it couldn’t be more worth it.

They pulled apart, breathing heavily, and Jack was smiling and so was Davey, so wide that his face hurt. “I love you too.”

“You’re right, Dave. That is good.” And Davey laughed, even though it wasn’t particularly funny. But it was Jack, and it was Jack being glad that Davey loved him, and that probably warranted its own expression of emotion, but for now, laughter worked.

But then there was the other question. The one that had to be addressed, as Jack and Davey kept sparing glances to each other’s covered forearms. “The soulmates thing… It don’t matter, Dave. Even if we ain’t… Even if this system says we ain’t meant for each other, it don’t mean they're right. I love you and you love me and that's-that's what matters.”

“Of course, Jack.” His breath was tight in his throat. He _would_ always love Jack, soulmates or not, but it would be so nice to know that they _had_ been matched together. “So, on three then?” Jack nodded. “One.” He hooked a finger underneath the fabric of his left sleeve.

“Two.” Jack did the same with his.

“Three.” They said it together and pulled up their respective sleeves.

Davey stared at the skin of Jack’s arm, laden in the ink of a familiar conversation. He cautiously reached out, too dazed to speak, and brushed his fingers over the words. Over _his_ words. He raised his eyes to Jack’s face, a mirror of his dazzled expression. They broke out in matching, impossible wide smiles, and Davey’s enveloped him a hug. “Jacky, we’re-”

“We’re soulmates, Dave.” Jack’s voice sounded on the verge of either crying of laughter, maybe both. Davey wasn’t sure, but he felt close to the both as well. They held each other for what seemed like hours, using each other’s warmth as a shield against the cold night air.

“So, Davey, to be clear-” Jack started, voice muffled by the fabric of Davey’s shoulder where his head was buried. “-The person you said you liked-”

“That was you, Jack.”

Jack smiled. “I told you so, then.”

Davey narrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“I’d said, what if we was actually in love with each other and didn’t know it. And you said no, we wasn’t, so I was right.”

“Yes, Jack, I suppose you were right.” Davey conceded. He brushed his thumb over Jack’s cheekbone, enjoying the way the other shivered with the touch. He could take being wrong if it meant getting to see Jack like this.

“I got Dave Jacobs to admit he was wrong- sorta. I’m a lucky guy.”

Davey grinned and shook his head. “I’d like to say we both are.” And he leaned in to kiss him, once again.

**Author's Note:**

> So between the 1910s and the 1950s lesbians and bi women (especially in NY) would use violets to express their love for women. And yeah this doesn't take place in that time period but since the violet thing originated in a poem by Sappho, (seriously lesbian history and symbols are interesting as heck; I love researching this stuff) I decided to use the violet symbol for sarah and kath despite time period differentials. i love my girls.
> 
> Anyway this is (i think) the longest fic i've ever written, and I just binge wrote it over the weekend so I hope you enjoyed it!!  
> As always, let me know what you thought, creative criticism is appreciated, and I hope you all have an amazing day!


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